The first York County schools are back in session. Here’s how the first day is going.
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It’s isn’t the typical back to school scene — teachers and kids smiling, ready to greet a new year.
“They’re still smiling,” said Bryan Dillon, public information officer for the Clover School District. “There’s just half of them at the middle and high school, and a fifth of them at the elementary school.”
School started Monday morning for Clover and the York School District. Combined, the districts instruct more than 13,000 students. Yet not all those students showed up Monday.
COVID-19 caused school districts statewide to start later than usual, modify bus and in-person school routines, even offer virtual education for families who chose not to send students to school buildings. By 8:30 a.m. Monday, Dillon said he’d been to three Clover district schools, and hadn’t seen or heard of any significant problems in resuming school.
He wasn’t aware of any bus issues.
“We’re lighter on the loads today,” he said. “In elementary school we’re a fifth of the students.”
Elementary school students in Clover start on a staggered schedule this week. Middle and high school students who attend school will do it on a hybrid schedule, so half will attend in-person at a time. Then, there are students utilizing the new Clover Virtual Academy.
“All the virtual kids are working today,” Dillon said. “They’re meeting and greeting teachers, getting log in details, working through how their days will look.”
York has a similar setup, a mix of all virtual and hybrid in-person options. After a week of LEAP days — extra days for preparation and assessment due to coronavirus — for elementary and middle school students, those students started in full Monday. High school students started on a staggered schedule.
“It’s been actually very smooth,” said Tim Cooper, public information officer for York schools who spent much of his morning at the high school there. “We’re seeing masks everywhere we’re supposed to be seeing masks. We’re seeing the ordinary tears at drop off when parents haven’t dropped students off before, like you’d expect.”
In York there were about 1,400 students whose families opted for the virtual route, roughly a quarter of all students. Cooper said that percentage was a little lower in York than for neighboring districts.
“Our teachers have been excited to see students again in the building,” he said.
Clover and York started school Monday as other districts prepare their own returns.
Fort Mill teachers and staff returned Monday in preparation for an Aug. 31 school start. Rock Hill teachers begin professional development and workdays on Tuesday, ahead of pre-high school student arrival starting Aug. 31 and a full first day of school Sept. 8.
Changes vary by district, but many are similar as they follow state education department requirements and recommendations. Water fountains aren’t in use. Neither are social gatherings spots. Sheila Quinn, superintendent for Clover schools, posted a video to her district Aug. 20 detailing mask use and other details, including daily start schedules where the district asks students to arrive as close to start time as possible.
“If you get to school too early, that will present some problems,” she said in the video. “We can no longer have students congregating together outside or in gyms, in cafeterias, in halls without social distancing.”
The York district has a special called board meeting Tuesday where items include temporary transportation and cleaning measures to align with federal health guideline updates. There are a host of different details this year in area schools.
“We always, no matter the year, ask some patience,” Cooper said.
School will look different across York County this year, though the goal is at some point the coronavirus spread threat will yield, and education will return to something similar to what it was before schools closed in mid-March.
“Hopefully we’re able to transition into a more traditional model at some point during the year, if the climate dictates it,” Dillon said.
While Monday wasn’t exactly back to normal, it was as close as districts have been since the abrupt end to in-person school last spring.
“Our teachers and parents are excited to get back to something that feels like a regular school year again,” Cooper said.
This story was originally published August 24, 2020 at 10:27 AM.
